On Mon, 29 May 2006 15:34:23 +0200 Arnt Karlsen wrote: > On Mon, 29 May 2006 08:57:25 -0400, Chris wrote in message > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > > IIRC, Dick Murphy has posted here several times that he's very much > > new to Linux. Based on that, pointing him at Debian *unstable* is not > > the best idea, IMHO. > > ..based on my own experience the last 3 years since bailing out of Red > Hat 5.2 thru 9, I can recommend Debian "unstable" for FlightGear use, > and anything else except ISP service, airliner flight controls etc where > a bug or crash may cause loss of life, these few cases are better served > by running Debian Stable.
In the case of newcomers to Linux, I couldn't possibly disagree more.
You're probably thinking that my reservations in recommending Sid
to a newbie have to do with "instability"; they don't. My reservations
have to do with the variety of things that you are *expected* to know
and be comfortable with, if you are running unstable.
I have spent *countless* hours in debian-user and #debian trying to get
people who just should not be running unstable back on track. Anyone who
runs Debian unstable, for instance:
- should have no qualms about spending time reading documentation and
should have comparatively little trouble understanding the documentation
they're reading;
- should be subscribed to debian-devel-announce and understand everything
that passes there, so that they're aware of any big issues coming down
the pike (e.g. major ABI/API changes that break KDE for a month etc.);
- should understand the debian distribution, versioning, and packaging
systems, and thus understand the potential pitfalls of running unstable,
running mixed systems, etc.;
- should be able to handle manual package installation;
- should be able to handle things when their MBR gets messed up without
having to do a re-install;
- should usually be able to figure out which package, out of a front-end
package and its many dependancies, is the one with a problem and then write a
useful bug report;
- should know about gdb and be able to make backtraces/straces/etc.
- many more things that I'm not going to list now because I'm late for
work.
This is all way too much to ask of someone who's new to Linux.
Pointing newbies to Debian unstable is a bad idea. When they run into
problems that, as a Debian unstable user, they should be able to work out
(but can't because they're new to Linux), they either give up on Linux,
or they make posts to debian-user or requests on #debian that
(appropriately, IMHO) result in advice to the effect of "you shouldn't
be running Sid."
-c
--
Chris Metzler [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(remove "snip-me." to email)
"As a child I understood how to give; I have forgotten this grace since I
have become civilized." - Chief Luther Standing Bear
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